1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a closing device, especially for doors, hatches, and the like, of motor vehicles, with an electric motor as the drive device and a transmission for transmitting the driving force to the closing device.
2. Description of Related Art
German Patent Publication 42 30 985 A1 discloses one example of a closing device. In this case, the transmission means consists of a wire which connects the motor to a catch bolt mechanism.
According to recent developments, trunk lids or rear hatches, especially in convertibles, in the course of design adaptation to their task of covering the stowage space for the removed convertible top, should have two laterally mounted locks. As a result, each lock includes an electric motor. However, the use of two motors has adverse effects with regard to space requirements.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a closing device in which several locks can be easily actuated in a space-saving manner and in which each lock is made compact and reliable.
The above object, and other objects, are achieved by providing a closing device for doors and hatches of motor vehicles, comprising at least one lock including a sliding block; a drive device including an electric motor for generating a driving force for moving said sliding block; and a transmission means for transmitting a driving force to the sliding block. The transmission means is a compression/tension cable which controls the opening and closing process of the closing device via the linear motion of the sliding block of the block. In this configuration one or more locks can be actuated by a drive cable, since only one sliding block at a time can be moved. This actuation can also take place by several sliding locks located in succession on the drive cable in the assigned locks.